audience

• people had previously relied on newspapers for information, radio was still relatively new and exciting
• the radio was a central part of family life, people would use it to listen to music, get news, enjoy dramas etc
• the slot being a part of the Mercury On The Air theatre segment helped to target listeners who enjoyed theatre and drama, was directed and narrated by Orson Welles
• Orson Welles' involvement would bring in fans of his previous work, as he was the narrator people would be familiar with his voice
• The War of the Worlds being based on an existing book means it has an existing fan base/pre-sold audience of people who are fans of the book, helps to reduce risk even further
• they had an orchestra playing music, some chat between presenters and some news style reports intercut amongst this content, this added to the sense of realism for audiences, gives it a gritty and authentic feel which may have made people worried
• The use of panicked voices made it feel like a scary event
• they mentioned real locations such as New York City making it feel relatable
• The use of silence at points would have added feelings of fear and isolation
• there was no advert breaks in the first half of the broadcast which added to the sense of realism and helped manipulate many listeners into believing it was real
• there was 2000 phonecalls within 2 hours made to the police in panic about war of the worlds
• there was a power cut shortly after the radio broadcast which prevented listeners from making calls or listening to more radio, resulting in further fear being spread
• Adolf Hitler mentioned the radio broadcast in a speech in Munich in 1938
• This broadcast was just before the start of WW2, where there was already a lot of conflict between countries at the time, lots of people were fearing invasion and war, that germany was going to invade Europe, lots of political events happening that meant a lot of audiences were on edge anyway, in particular about the idea of invasion or attack
• some audiences misinterpreted the play and were convinced the reports of an attack were about a German invasion, so audiences do not always take the preferred reading of a product
• Some listeners missed the mentions of it being a fictional radio drama as they had been listening to a show on a competing radio station just prior
• very difficult to say how the show really affected audiences as it can't be scientifically measured or proven
• it is likely that when newspapers reported on the broadcast they heavily exaggerated the negative effects on audiences as radio was newspapers' main competition
• Some argue that audience reactions would not have been so bad had newspapers not spread panic about the show